Although sometimes thought of as a “proto-Protestant,” Peter Waldo sought to reform the Catholic Church, not abandon it. An 1180 document believed to have been signed by Waldo declares belief in orthodox Catholic tenets. Private Bible reading in the vernacular was not necessarily forbidden in late medieval France, where literacy was rising in the growing towns. Others before Waldo had left their wealth, and within a few decades, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Dominic would do the same. Rather than start monasteries, the first Waldensians remained itinerant. They refused to perform any work but preaching lest they be tempted to accumulate wealth. Moreover, they took the radical step of publicly reading, preaching, and interpreting scripture as laypeople.

Relations with the established church quickly soured, however.